Hip exerciser

ABSTRACT

A hip exerciser  10  comprises a base  20  and a rocker frame  30.  The rocker frame  30  comprises at least a lever arm  31,  at least a load arm  32  and at least a hub  33.  The lever arm  31  includes a foot rest  311  at the end away from the hub  33;  the load arm  32  includes a waist support  321  at the end away from the hub  33.  The lever arm  31,  the load arm  32  and the hub  33  functions like a seesaw. The base  20  includes a corresponding pivot bearing  21  to which the hub  33  is pivotally connected. When performing exercising movements, the user depress the foot rest  311  with his/her feet, which also lifts the waist support  321  simultaneously.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention

[0002] This invention relates to an exercising apparatus mainly fortraining muscles of the hips (glutei), especially to one which canprovide a relatively long travel for gluteus movements and a relativelygreat resistance at the end of such travel.

[0003] 2. Prior Art

[0004] Human hip muscles are not sufficiently exercised in everyday lifeof our modern society. Consequently most people do not have strong andfit hips and many even have superfluous fat at the hips. Traditionallythe most frequently used methods for strengthening hip muscles (glutei)rely on body movements that also employ (front) thigh muscles so theireffect on hips are reduced. These body movements includes Squat andStep-up exercises with or without using dumbbells. A more effortlessexercise of this kind is to lay the body horizontally with the heelsnear the hips, and to repeatedly raise the waist and hence the hips up.The fitness equipment market has even known several devices forenhancing the effect of such “raise-hip” exercises. Such devicesincorporate elastic cords to resist movement of the waist away from thesole of the feet. Whether an auxiliary device is used or not, thedrawback of the above-mentioned “raise-hip” exercises is that the travelof gluteus movements is too limited (i.e. the variance of the anglebetween the trunk and the thighs is too small), thus the effect onexercising the glutei is also limited.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0005] An object of the present invention is to avoid theabove-mentioned drawback of traditional hip-training exercises byproviding a hip exerciser which allows a longer travel of gluteusmovements.

[0006] Another object of the present invention is to provide such a hipexerciser that also has simple structure, is inexpensive and occupieslittle space.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0007]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the first embodiment of the hipexerciser according to this invention.

[0008]FIG. 2 is a schematic view of the user and the hip exerciser ofFIG. 1 in the start position.

[0009]FIG. 3 is a schematic view of the user and the hip exerciser ofFIG. 1 in the end position.

[0010]FIG. 4 is a schematic view of the user and a prior art bun andthigh exerciser in the start position.

[0011]FIG. 5 is a schematic view of the user and the bun and thighexerciser of FIG. 4 in the end position.

[0012]FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the second embodiment of the hipexerciser.

[0013]FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the third embodiment of the hipexerciser according to this invention.

[0014]FIG. 8 is a schematic view of the user and the hip exerciser ofFIG. 7 in the start position.

[0015]FIG. 9 is a schematic view of the user and the hip exerciser ofFIG. 7 in the end position.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0016]FIG. 1 shows a preferred embodiment of the present invention. Hipexerciser 10 comprises a base 20 and a rocker frame 30. The rocker frame30 further comprises lever arms 31, load arms 32 and hubs 33. There is afoot rest 311 at the end of each lever arm 31 away from the hub 33 and awaist support 321 at the end of each load arm 32 away from the hub 33.The assembly of a lever arm 31, a hub 33 and a load arm 32 resembles toa seesaw except that it is not in a straight line fashion but ratherforms an obtuse angle between the lever arm 31 and the load arm 32.Corresponding to the hubs 33 of the rocker frame 30, pivot bearings 21are mounted on the base 20 and each pivotally coupled to respective hub33 by a pivot.

[0017] Now referring to FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, the waist of the user is laidupon and against the waist support 321 during operation. Also referringto FIG. 1, the waist support 321 is preferably covered by a cushion pad322 to improve comfort. The feet of the user are laid upon and againstthe foot rests 311. In FIG. 1, the left and right foot rests 311 extendfrom the left and right lever arms 31 towards each other. Alternatively,both foot rests 311 may also extend from the lever arms 31 away fromeach other, or they may be removably or pivotally coupled to the leverarms 31 such that their extending directions can be changed. When theuser performs hip exercising movements, his/her feet exert a pressure onthe foot rests 311 and forcing the rocker frame 30 to swingcounter-clockwise about the hubs 33 and the pivot bearings 21. The waistsupport 321 is raised simultaneously and lifts the user's waist up orforcing the user to raise the waist by his/her own muscles. In fact,either the user's waist is seen raised by the waist support 321 or byhis/her own muscles, exertion (contraction) of the glutei and onlyexertion (contraction) of the glutei is the cause.

[0018] In case during the user exerts his/her muscle force to raise thewaist with the hip exerciser 10 certain horizontal component of theforce may occur which could move the base 20 back and forth, anti-slipmaterial is preferably applied to the bottom surface of the base 20. Inaddition, the base 20 may further comprise at both sides handles 22which are to be held by the user's hands for immobilizing the base 20.

[0019]FIG. 2 is a schematic view of the user and the hip exerciser 10 inthe start position in which the glutei is relaxed. FIG. 3 is a schematicview of the user and the hip exerciser 10 in the end position in whichthe glutei contract to the highest degree that the hip exerciser 10allows. A huge variation in the angle between the thigh and the trunk ofthe user through the course of a single exercising movement is observedby comparing FIG. 2 and FIG. 3 which represent respectively the extremepositions of the movement. It is to be noticed that the distance betweenthe feet and the waist of the user remains constant during the course ofan exercising movement because the foot rests 311 and the waist support321 against which they lie respectively are at fixed locations on therigid rocker frame 30. So, although the user's legs are flexed whenusing the hip exerciser 10, their flexing angle remains constant duringthe exercises, which means that the thigh muscles (quadriceps andhamstrings) are not exerted in such exercises.

[0020]FIG. 4 is a schematic view of the user and a prior art bun andthigh exerciser (marketed under the trade name “Bun and Thigh Rocker”)in the start position in which the muscles are relaxed. FIG. 5 is aschematic view of the user and the bun and thigh exerciser of FIG. 4 inthe end position in which the muscles contract to the highest degree.The angle between the legs and the thighs was 77 degrees in FIG. 4 andbecomes 180 degrees in FIG. 5; the angle between the thighs and thetrunk was 70 degrees in FIG. 4 and becomes 180 degrees in FIG. 5. So thelegs have swung for 103 degrees relative to the thighs while the thighshave swung for 110 degrees relative to the trunk. Thus it can be seenthat the thigh muscles (precisely, the quadriceps) contribute about halfthe strength in doing such “bun and thigh” exercises. Consequently, theeffect on exercising the glutei is halved. Moreover, with such a bun andthigh exerciser, the glutei can contract at most until the thighs andthe trunk form a straight angle (180 degrees) as shown in FIG. 5. Thusthe glutei aren't exerted to their full extend. In fact, walking andrunning can exert the glutei to a wider extend as the thighs alwaysswing backwards and go beyond straight under the trunk (until the anglebetween the thighs and the trunk exceeds 180 degrees).

[0021] With the hip exerciser 10 according to this invention, one notonly can exercise the glutei to their full extend but also can exercisethem with a great resistance. Referring to FIG. 3, when the waist andhips are raised to the highest position, the angle between the thighsand the trunk reaches 227 degrees, which means the glutei contract to avery high degree. More importantly, when the waist and hips are raisedto the highest position, the glutei must continue to contract withplenty of effort to keep the body from falling down by gravity. Thusholding in this end position will gain exercising effect on the glutei.By contrast, with the above-mentioned bun and thigh exerciser, when thethighs and the trunk form a straight angle, the torque from theresistance for forcing the thighs to flex decreases to near zero. Thusholding in this end position will gain literally no exercising effect onthe glutei.

[0022] The hip exerciser 10 of the present invention has outstandingadvantages over traditional ways to exercise the glutei. For example,when striding the thighs do swing at wide angles but before they gobehind the trunk, the body has begun moving forward and has gainedmomentum keeping the body moving forward therefore little resistanceexists and hence little force is exerted during the second half of thebackward swings. Even during the first half of the backward swings, thebody is moved by the cooperation of the calf, hamstrings and the gluteusso not much force is exerted by the gluteus. As for running, althoughgreater force is exerted during the first half of the backward swings,there is no resistance during the second half of the backward swingssince the foot does not contact the sol during this stage. Thereforerunning doesn't thoroughly exercise the glutei.

[0023] Thus it can be seen that well resisted long travel movements ofthe glutei rarely happen in our everyday life and traditional exercisingactivities. The hip exerciser 10 of the present invention provideshighly efficient exercises of the glutei, which are well resisted andwith long travel. Moreover, it has simple structure, is inexpensive andoccupies little space.

[0024] The present invention is not limited to the embodiment shown inFIG. 1. In FIG. 1 the rocker frame 30 comprises two lever arms 31, twoload arms 32, two hubs 33 and two foot rests 311 but in otherembodiments the rocker frame 30 may comprise only one lever arm 31, oneload arm 32, one hub 33 and one foot rest 311. In such embodiments thelever arm 31, the load arm 32 and the hub 33 may be disposed on one sideaside of the user's body, and the foot rest 311 and each has a widthsubstantially equal to the width of a human body. Alternatively, thelever arm 31, the load arm 32 and the hub 33 may be disposed in themiddle under the user's body, and the foot rest 311 and the waistsupport 321 are connected respectively to the lever arm 31 and to theload arm 32 in “T” shape.

[0025]FIG. 6 shows another embodiment of the hip exerciser 10. In thisembodiment, cushion pad 322 has a slab shape and is coupled to the waistsupport 321 in a way that it can pivot about the axis A collinear to thewaist support 321. Such design provides larger contact area to the waistand hence more comfort. As the cushion pad 322 can pivot about the waistsupport 321, it can adapt to the variant inclination of the user's waistthrough the movement so as to ensure large-area contact perpetually.

[0026] Referring to FIG. 7, the hip exerciser 10 may further comprise aroller frame 40 pivotally connected to the base 20. On the roller frame40 a set of rollers 41 are mounted which will roll against and along andthus the abdominals of the user. In FIG. 7 the roller frame 40 and therocker frame 30 are coaxially coupled to the base 20, i.e., they sharethe same pivots. However, in other embodiments, the roller frame 40 andthe rocker frame 30 may be coupled to adjacent portions of the base 20,in which case the base 20 will comprises separate sets of pivot bearings21 and pivots respectively mating the roller frame 40 and the rockerframe 30. Similarly, instead of sharing the same hub 33, each lever arm31 and load arm 32 may comprise its own hub 33 which is coupled toproprietary pivot bearing 21 and pivot. In this case, the lever arm(s)31 and the load arm(s) 32 must be interconnected by linking means so asto pivot in the same directions simultaneously by constraint.

[0027]FIG. 8 shows the positions of the roller frame 40 the rollers 41when the user is in the start position. At this moment the rollers 41contact the upper abdominals. In FIG. 9 where the user is in the endposition, the rollers 41 contact the lower abdominals. Thus it can beseen that at the same time the user raises his/her hips, the rollers 41roll along massaging his/her abdominals. Exercising with the hipexerciser 10 of the present invention can thus improve the fitness ofthe hips and of the abdominals simultaneously.

1. A hip exerciser 10 comprising a base 20 and a rocker frame 30; therocker frame 30 comprising at least a lever arm 31, at least a load arm32 and at least a first pivotal coupler 33; the lever arm 31 having afoot rest 311 at the end away from the first pivotal coupler 33; theload arm 32 having a waist support 321 at the end away from the firstpivotal coupler 33; the lever arm 31, the first pivotal coupler 33 andthe load arm 32 being interconnected and movable simultaneously in thesame directions and substantially forming an obtuse angle between thelever arm 31 and the load arm 32; the base 20 comprising at least asecond pivotal coupler 21 to which the first pivotal coupler 33 ispivotally connected; when performing exercising movements, the userdepress the foot rest 311 with his/her feet, which also lifts the waistsupport 321 simultaneously.
 2. The hip exercise 10 of claim 1, whereinthe base 20 further comprises a handle 22 at each side.
 3. The hipexercise 10 of claim 1 further comprising a roller frame 40 swingablyconnected to the base 20, and roller(s) 41 pivotally mounted on theroller frame 40.